1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image capturing device, a method for image capturing using the image capturing device, and a computer readable recording medium that records a program for realizing an image capture by the image capturing device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In one photographic technique, a depth of field is made shallow, a focused range is made narrow, and an image is captured in which a background, other than an object image which is in focus, is blurred. To capture a photograph having a shallow depth of field, it is necessary to open the aperture of the camera and extend the focal distance. Generally, in a single lens reflex camera having a large-diameter imaging lens and various possible combinations of apertures and shutter speeds, it is possible to use this technique to capture a photograph.
Conversely, in current popular compact-sized digital cameras and mobile telephones including cameras that have image capture functions, size reductions have led to the use of imaging lenses having small diameters and extremely short focal distances; and therefore, depths of field have become extremely deep. Therefore, in such devices, it is difficult to capture a photograph having bokeh (a photograph in which only the background is blurred to accentuate the main object) by using the technique recited above.
On the other hand, a method is discussed (for example, the reader is directed to Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. 2003-189171) for capturing multiple images having parallax and synthesizing the images to create an image that imitates the same bokeh of a large diameter lens even when using a small diameter imaging lens.
However, in the method of Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. 2003-189171 recited above, an image capture unit having a complex configuration including multiple image capture lenses and image capture elements is necessary for capturing an image having parallax; and unfortunately, implementation in a general compact-sized camera is difficult.